Women's Soccer Opens 2005 Season at Titan Stadium

THIS WEEK:
The Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team opens the 2005 season this weekend at Titan Stadium, playing host to San Diego State on Friday (Aug. 26) at 7 p.m. and welcoming in San Jose State on Sunday (Aug. 28) at 1 p.m.

TITANS ON THE WEB:
This weekend's matches against the Aztecs and Spartans will be carried live over the Internet with Cal State Fullerton student Mike Martinez handling the play-by-play. Log on to www.FullertonTitans.com and click on the multimedia link on the left-hand side of the page to access the broadcast.

WELCOME BACK TO THE PITCH:
Coming off of its second Big West Conference Championship in the last four years, the Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team will look very familiar for the 2005 season. The roster is largely unchanged as the Titans return 17 letterwinners and 10 starters from last year's squad which posted an 11-8-1 overall record and a 7-1-1 mark in league action to share the crown with UC Santa Barbara (which, coincidentally, was the Titans' only conference loss). After struggling to only three wins in their first 10 matches, the Titans lived up to their namesake, winning their final seven regular season matches (tying a school record in the process) en route to a No. 2 seed in the Big West Conference Tournament. However, eventual tournament champion Cal Poly got an early goal and played solid defense the rest of the way to eliminate Cal State Fullerton, 1-0.

IN THE RANKINGS:
Cal State Fullerton enters the season ranked No. 15 in the West Region according to Soccer Buzz. San Diego State and San Jose State are unranked to open the year.

TITANS PICKED SECOND IN BIG WEST RACE:
The Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team was picked to finish second in the Big West Conference in 2005 according to a vote of the league's coaches released by the conference office on Aug. 15. The Titans, who clinched a share of the conference championship last season with a 7-1-1 mark, finished three points behind preseason favorite Cal Poly despite receiving a league-high four first-place votes. The Mustangs garnered two first place votes and 57 points to the Titans' 54 points. Long Beach State and 2004 co-champion UC Santa Barbara finished tied for third with 42 points and a first-place vote each. Cal State Northridge (30 points), Pacific (29), UC Riverside (21), and UC Irvine (13), round out the poll.

THE TITANS... FOR OPENERS:
Cal State Fullerton is 4-8 all-time in season-opening matches, but has won two of its last three >> The Titans are 2-2 in season openers in Head Coach Ali Khosroshahin's first four seasons at Fullerton >> Cal State Fullerton has opened the season against San Diego State twice, losing both times - a 5-0 defeat in the program's first season in 1993 and a 4-2 loss in the 1998 season opener >> The Titans are 4-6 when opening the season at home >> Fullerton has opened the season at home every season except the inaugural year of the program.

A TOUGH "MOUNTAIN" TO CLIMB AND THE WACKY "WAC":
Cal State Fullerton's season-opener against San Diego State will be the first of three matches (SDSU, New Mexico, Utah) this season against members of the Mountain West Conference, a league against which the Titans have posted only four victories in 18 matches. Sunday's match against San Jose State will mark the 17th all-time meeting against a current Western Athletic Conference foe with Fullerton posting a 10-6 mark in those contests. The Titans will also meet another WAC foe in Hawaii at the end of September.

HOME SWEET HOME:
Cal State Fullerton has posted a 68-52-6 (.563) all-time record at Titan Stadium, including a 5-2-1 mark last season, and is currently riding a three-match home winning streak. The Titans have posted a winning record at home in each of the last four seasons, posting a combined record of 26-8-2 (.750) in that stretch.

WHERE THERE'S A WILSON, THERE'S A WIN:
Senior forward enters her final season in a Cal State Fullerton uniform ranked No. 2 in all-time points (61), goals (27), and game-winning goals (9), but it's what happens when she accumulates all those numbers that stands out even more. In her three seasons, the Titans are 21-2-1 when Wilson scores a point and an even more impressive 18-1-1 when she scores a goal - including an unbeaten streak of 16 consecutive matches dating back to her freshman season.

BARDSLEY AMONG NATION'S BEST:
Goalkeeper Karen Bardsley returned to the field seven matches into the season after fully recovering from a broken leg suffered in 2003. The way she finished the season, however, it was as if she never left. Bardsley, who was named the 2004 Big West Conference Goalkeeper of the Year at the end of the season, finished the year with a 7-3-1 record and a school single-season record 0.71 goals against average - which was good enough to rank No. 28 in the nation in that category. In addition, her 12 goals allowed ranked second behind only Delaware's Lindsay Shover (10) among the top 30 goaltenders who qualified.

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE:
Cal State Fullerton returns 89 percent of its goals scored from last season (25 of 28), 92 percent of its points scored (73 of 79), and 94 percent of its shots taken (334 of 357).

TO BE THE BEST, YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE BEST:
Cal State Fullerton's 2005 schedule once again features a difficult slate of non-conference matches against some of the nation's best teams. The Titans will meet three other teams ranked in Soccer Buzz's West Region preseason top 15 this upcoming season, going head-to-head with Santa Clara (No. 3) on Sept. 11 in Santa Clara, Calif., Utah (No. 7) on Sept. 18 in Tucson, Ariz., and Loyola Marymount (No. 13) in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 25. In addition, the Titans will also meet a trio of teams ranked in the top 30 nationally by Soccer Buzz in the Broncos (No. 8), the Utes (No. 26), and Auburn (No. 24) on Sept. 2 in Auburn, Ala.
In other rankings, Santa Clara is ranked No. 7 in the nation according to Soccer America's preseason poll, while the Broncos (No. 5) and Tigers (receiving votes) are listed among the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's preseason rankings.
Since 2001, the Titans have faced 13 ranked opponents, posting a 2-8-3 overall record in those matches with wins over No. 24 Saint Mary's and No. 13 Clemson, and ties against No. 12 Washington, No. 13 Santa Clara, and No. 19 Cal Poly.